In Windows 8.1, to conserve power, Human Interface Devices (HID) that connect through USB, are suspended when no application or service is accessing the device. Suspending an idle device helps extend the battery life of mobile computers. However, when suspended, some devices stop charging while plugged into the computer, they might disconnect and then reconnect repeatedly or stop working altogether.

If you are experiencing these issues, try disabling the Enhanced Power Management setting by following the instructions given below. But before you do that, check first to see whether the device vendor has rolled out an update already.

Check for updates

To check whether an updated driver is available:

Bring up the Search charm by swiping into the screen from the right edge, or by moving your pointing device to the lower right corner of the screen.

Open the Windows Update by typing for “windows update” in the Search charm.

Tap or click Check for updates to find latest updates for your computer.

Tap or click Check now.

If updates are found, tap or click Install updates.

Make sure the problem is resolved.

If not, try disabling the power management by following the instruction below.

Disable Enhanced Power Management

In these instructions, we’ll use a HID-compliant game controller device as an example.

Connect the device to the computer.

Search for “device manager” in the Search charm, and open Device Manager.

Expand the Human Interface Devices node and select the device that is causing the issue. You will get a window like the one shown in the image below. Note that the device might be listed by name or as "USB Input Device." Also, there might be multiple "USB Input Device” nodes. Follow these steps to determine the problem device:

Reexamine each USB Input Device node to determine the new device, which represents the problem device.

Select the View –> Devices by connection from the menu. You’ll see the parent USB device to which the problem device is connected. In this example, the game controller is connected to the Microsoft Sidewinder Freestyle Pro USB device.

Right-click the parent USB device that you found in the previous step and select Properties.

View the Details tab.

Under Property, select Device Instance Path, and then note the ID information. In this example, the ID is USB\VID_045E&PID_000E\6&61F43E3&0&2. This line is a combination of these IDs:

Vendor ID (VID)

Product ID (PID)

Instance ID

Open Registry Editor (regedit.exe) by searching for “regedit” in the Search charm.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Enum\ USB.

Expand the USB folder.

Under the USB folder, open the folder with the name that matches the VID and PID that you noted in step 8. In this example, it’s VID_045E&PID_000E.

Under that VID&PID folder, find the folder that matches the Instance ID you noted in step 8. In this example, it’s 6&61F43E3&0&2.

Under the Instance ID key, select Device Parameters.

In the details pane, right-click the EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled entry and then click Modify.

Change the Value data to 0 and then click OK. See image below.

Exit Registry Editor.

Unplug and plug the device.

Important Note: In order for the registry changes to be maintained, you must plug in your device into the same port it was plugged in when you made the registry changes.

The problem device should now recharge correctly or stop disconnecting.

If you have to enable the Enhanced Power Management setting again for the device after you install an updated driver, follow the same steps in this section except that, in step 10, change the Value data to 1.

As a device maker, how can I provide this fix to my customers?

All you have to do is either create a new INF file or add to your existing INF File, the following snippet in the Install section of the INF:

Note, this is not a complete INF. It only shows the sections needed to add the registry. After you have created the INF file and validated it, you can sign it and post it on Windows Update so users of your device can get the fix automatically.

Feedback

If the workaround resolves the issue, please respond with a comment describing specifically the problem you were experiencing (e.g. my USB device did not charge, or my USB game controller disconnected every few seconds, or stopped working). Please include a description of the device with the make and model, and the VID and PID of the device.

If your device is one of Sony devices listed here esupport.sony.com/…/support-info.pl, please check for Windows update. Sony has published an INF on Windows update to disable power management so the devices can charge.

I have this problem with a ThinkPad USB 3.0 dock with DisplayLink. It drops out at seemingly random intervals and reconnects. Since I'm using it for two extra displays all my screens flash black a few times while my display config is updated back and forth. No

I was having trouble with my CH fighterstick USB joystick and CH propedals USB.

I was experiencince frequent 'spikes' during game play the caused control inputs- and my Track IR5 infrared view tracking system,

I believe this was due to the power management problem. I disabled the advanced power mgt feature in Windows 8.1 Device manager for all the usb ports- BUT… when I checked the CH devices listed in the manager, the box enabling power management was still checked.

I unchecked the box for every USB device.,

It seems to me that the Windows OS should default to this option OFF- and allow users to turn it on if they find it valuable. Ideally, an OS should be so well designed that this issue doesn't exist. Shouldn't it?

My Creative Zen Style 100 has stopped being recognized by my PC (it uses Windows 8.1). We bought the PC in December, but in the last couple of weeks it has went from recognizing my MP3 player , to having to unplug / plug the MP3 player back in , to not recognizing it. Any ideas????

A change that reduces functionality and usability is not an "improvement" nor an "enhancement". The check boxes in the Device Manager did nothing – when I went into the registry it was all still "on". Though I disabled these nuisances that can't tell I'm on an AC-powered desktop computer, my Google Nexus 7 tablet "Android Device" still doesn't charge. Why you may ask? Because it isn't an HID device – yet it is still suspended and doesn't charge. I did however notice my external USB drives are now accessed much faster since this retrograde Detraction has been disabled. For god's sake, give me a Group Policy or other system capability to turn this off! I'm not on a battery powered machine! If you are going to write something, make sure it only applies to situations where it actually adds value rather than cause losses of functionality!

Okay, I've tried this and similar solutions and my devices are still disconnecting much more frequently than before. Almost daily, the Keyboard and Mouse never wake up and I need a wireless mouse to sleep and wake the computer which is only a temporary solution. It's getting worse fast. They are the K120 mouse and keyboard from a Logitech bundle.

I would respectfully suggest that a good option for everyone, would be to have one of the "power management schemes" that disables the "Enhanced Power Management setting" as part of its profile. that way everyones needs are met.

Microsoft broke this with an update. I simply want my USB ports to stay on without all of the computer programming for every device I have, or might acquire. You have offered a serious problem, not a solution.

I have the Native Instruments Maschine controller (the original one–not the MKII) and this issue was affecting it. It would usually not be recognized when I plugged in its USB–and when I started the Maschine software, it would go crazy, with the USB connection sound playing repeatedly. I think it was disconnecting and reconnecting repeatedly.

I was able to fix it by doing the steps described above, setting the EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled to 0 in the registry for the USB device. NOTE: In my case, there was not a EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled entry in the registry for my device. So I had to right click in the key section and select a new "DWORD" entry, and then typed in "EnhancedPowerManagementEnabled" as the new key and left the default hex "0" as the value. Seems to have fixed everything.

This workaround also helped charging a Sony Playstation 3 wireless controller, VID_054C&PID_0268. Before applying the workaround it would only charge for a second then turn off, just like the Plantronics.

The December compatibility patch (support.microsoft.com/…/2976978) disables Enhanced Power Management on the following devices that have been reported to have problems in this blog and other forums. So please make sure to apply this patch.

Hello, I have 4 systems in my house (3 of them with Win 7 64bit & one Win 8.1 64bit) and I want to make my mouse to work on my main gaming PC. The mouse (a DeathAdder 2013) is being recognized by 2 of the systems and installs correctly as an HID compilant device and as its name (DeathAdder 2013) under the HID devices section in the Device Manager, but not on the on my main one. It's not lighting up or acting on any way. I installed Win 8.1 to see if it can recognize the mouse but with no luck. I also selected the High Performance power scheme and dissallowed USB devices to be shut down by the OS, but with the same result.

Is there any way to make the device to work? It's otherwise working properly on the other systems I own.

We had an issue similar to the wording in this article where multiple USB sticks connected to a Microsoft Surface would constantly connect and disconnect with multiple notifications in the top right corner (over and over again)

This would happen whether the USB sticks were connected via an external Hub or the official Microsoft Docking Station.

It turns out we had a VERY specific Group Policy enabled that would Deny Execute access from Removable storage devices. I suppose technically some virus scanning manufacturers also have the ability to deny execute access (To thwart autorun virus infections)… so maybe keep that in mind too in case the setting below is not related to your issue. You might want to see if you can turn off some similar setting in your product.

I’ve had a problem with my USB 3.0 USB Hub randomly disconnecting & reconnecting from my Windows 10 Laptop, which of course interrupts file transfers, disables attached monitors (DisplayLink), etc. I’ve tried many things to no avail, but I think it’s finally fixed with the disabling of USB SELECTIVE SUSPEND has solved my issues (at least this is the longest I’ve gone without a crash – 2 days). I have found that the disconnection problem occurs during times of high USB i/o.